Four migrants have died in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody during the first 10 days of 2026, according to government press releases. The deaths occurred between 3 and 9 January, marking a grim start to the year after record detention deaths under the Trump administration in 2025.
The deceased include two individuals from Honduras, one from Cuba, and another from Cambodia. The Cuban detainee, Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, died on 3 January at Camp East Montana in Texas. ICE said he became disruptive and was placed in isolation before being found in distress. The two Honduran men, Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, 42, and Luis Beltran Yanez–Cruz, 68, died in hospitals in Houston and Indio, California, on 5 and 6 January respectively, following heart-related issues. Parady La, a 46-year-old Cambodian man, died on 9 January from severe drug withdrawal symptoms at a detention centre in Philadelphia.
At least 30 people died in ICE custody in 2025, the highest level in two decades, agency figures showed. As of 7 January, ICE held 69,000 people, a number expected to rise after a massive funding infusion from the US Congress. The Trump administration aims to ramp up deportations, increasing migrant detention.
Setareh Ghandehari, advocacy director at Detention Watch Network, called the high number of deaths “truly staggering” and urged the administration to shutter detention centres. In response, US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the rate of deaths had remained in step with historic norms as the detention population has climbed, adding that ICE maintains a higher standard of care than most prisons holding US citizens.
In addition to the in-custody deaths, an ICE officer fatally shot a Minnesota mother of three last week, sparking protests in Minneapolis and other cities.
